South Vietnam Air Force pilot jumps from his Huey after dropping evacuees on USS Midway (1975)
After dropping off evacuees on USS Midway, a south Vietnamese pilot bails out of his Huey and into the water, 1975
Operation
Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American
civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before
the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of
Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saigon. It was carried out on 29–30 April
1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. More than 7,000 people
were evacuated by helicopter from various points in Saigon. The airlift
resulted in a number of enduring images.
Evacuation
plans already existed as a standard procedure for American embassies.
At the beginning of March, fixed-wing aircraft began evacuating
civilians from Tan Son Nhat Airport through neighboring countries. By
mid-April, contingency plans were in place and preparations were
underway for a possible helicopter evacuation. As the imminent collapse
of Saigon became evident, the U.S. Navy assembled Task Force 76 off the
coast near Vũng Tàu to support a helicopter evacuation and provide air
support if required. In the event, air support was not needed as the
North Vietnamese paused for a week at the outskirts of Saigon, possibly
waiting for the South Vietnamese government to collapse and avoiding a
possible confrontation with the U.S. by allowing the mostly-unopposed
evacuation of Americans from Saigon.
On 28 April, Tan Son Nhut Air Base (next to the
airport) came under artillery fire and attack from Vietnamese People's
Air Force aircraft. The fixed-wing evacuation was terminated, and
Operation Frequent Wind began. During the fixed-wing evacuation 50,493
people (including 2,678 Vietnamese orphans) were evacuated from Tan Son
Nhut.
The evacuation took place primarily from
the Defense Attaché Office compound, beginning around 14:00 on the
afternoon of 29 April, and ending that night with only limited small
arms damage to the helicopters. The U.S. Embassy in Saigon was intended
to only be a secondary evacuation point for embassy staff, but it was
soon overwhelmed with evacuees and desperate South Vietnamese. The
evacuation of the embassy was completed at 07:53 on 30 April, but some
Americans chose to stay or were left behind and some 400 third-country
nationals were left at the embassy.
Tens of
thousands of Vietnamese evacuated themselves by sea or air. With the
collapse of South Vietnam, numerous boats and ships, Republic of Vietnam
Air Force (RVNAF) helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft sailed or
flew out to the evacuation fleet. Helicopters began to clog ship decks
and eventually, some were pushed overboard to allow others to land.
Pilots of other helicopters were told to drop off their passengers and
then take off and ditch in the sea, from where they would be rescued. In
Operation Frequent Wind a total of 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese
and third-country nationals were evacuated by helicopter
.
The total number of Vietnamese evacuated by Frequent Wind or
self-evacuated and ending up in the custody of the United States for
processing as refugees to enter the United States totalled 138,869.
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